Sweet Home Alabama??

Sweet Home Alabama!

Check out this great article on Alabama and the Death Penalty.

"If you are a poor person of color accused of a capital crime in Alabama, what stands between you and the death penalty?"

Not much according to Nancy Goldstein.

Goldstein includes some very revealing facts and statistics:
1. Alabama has no statewide public defender system
2. All 19 of Alabama's appellate court judges are white
3. 41 of 42 of Alabama's elected District Attorneys are white
4. Odds are 1 in 3 that a jury will be ALL White
5. Since 1975, courts have found that prosecutors illegally excluded black people from serving as jurors in at least 28 cases
6. Alabama's death row population has doubled in the past decade 3-10 times greater than that of other Southern states
7. Though black people account for 26% of AL's population - nearly 63% of its prisoners are black
8. Since 1975 - 70% of those executed were black

Goldstein asks, where all of the ardent supporters of the so-called "culture of life" have gone when it comes to routine execution of citizens who face inadequate counsel in a biased system???

“There’s been a stunning silence from people who talk about the value of life when it comes to these issues,” Stevenson sighs. “And this is disingenuous. We don’t have to execute people to protect public safety. While the Pope is explicit about being against execution, American political leadership, including Catholic leadership, is not only silent, but also resistant to any portion of the ‘culture of life’ that refers to the death penalty. The black church, which has given us a great deal of support, and communities of color have been the exceptions.”

The most disturbing fact was:

In last November’s election, 51% of Alabama’s voters upheld a statewide referendum to keep segregation-era wording which required separate schools for “white and colored children” in its constitution.

Not to mention Alabama Senator Richard Shelby was one of the few who opposed the recent anti-lynching legislation!

A Must Read!